Means and method for preparing fish for filleting



Nov. 22, 1938.

w. HUNT MEANS AND METHOD FOR PREPARING FISH FOR FILLETING Filed Jan. 2,1956 4 sneeis-shm 1 INVENTOR. Will/am fl-f/unf ATTORNEY W. H. HUNT Nov.22, 1938.

MEANS AND METHOD FOR PREPARING FISH FOR FILLE'IING 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Jan. 2, 1936 INVENTOR. h dm H. fl 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 W. H. HUNTFiled Jan. 2, 1936 Nov. 22, MEANS AND METHQD FOR PREPARING FISH FORFILLETING k hm T 5 I m 8 m L Q Q 9w I 4 a. w .1? lwl rlmw i 3% 3 hm 1IIII Illll lllll Q N G Q an \JM 1 am 2 Q a 1% n i wi a R mm m w W Q U Q0 I N wMh Mm HAW m -8- Q B a E 3. W 0Q 1. a o E 4 Q w m m QR H E MN 3 mwI INVENTOR. 1 William H Warn ATTORNEYS,

NOV. 22, W. H. HUNT I MEANS AND METHOD FOR PREPARING FISH FOR F ILLETINGFiled Jan. 2, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Will/am H. f/ f- V i I BYN MATT??? Patented Nov. 22, 193 8 UNITED STATES- mnssmismmonronnuanmdnsn1 m ronmu'rmo ivvmlsm n. mm, moun ain-cam; Oalii'sa corporationot'flallhrnh cl, flan Bless,

January m. sum 1:; stilts ta cum. (c i -sl 1, t i i This inventionrelates to improvements; in fi sh filletins" machines. i p

, An importantj obiect oi smartest; s the provisional? mechanism whichmay be used either alone or inconiunction with a. 1 filletin: ma-

- chinekby means which a small strip at skin a v p andfieshoisuhstantially triansularerosssectionis removed from the back oraj-fish from the tailend towardsthe head end; for thepurpose oiremovinzf the dorsal fins and associated I '1 Another object orinvention is to "provide a; completely automatically" operatins "machinefor "thispurpose by means oi which thev above object may be accomplishedwith a minimum tr amework or YA further obiect or. this invention stem:the novel method or moving a fish in thedirection oifits length andsimultaneously cuttins "and stripping therefrom a strip 0! fiesh andskin with 1 it the dorsal finsand associated knuckles attached.

still iurthervobiectoir this invention is to provide a means and, method{or eiiecting the above obiectswhereby afish isprepared tor sub sequentremoval of the fillets from they bony wh m ummv w v ,iMore specificallyan obiectfoi"this invention a is to provide an attachmenhiimprovement,or

addition toa filleting machine of the type disclosed in my copendingapplication Serial-No.

structure hereindlsclosed and carriedouti-by method of filleting fish."v p p Themany other novel objects of thisinvention which aresuccessiullysecured by means 0! the 4,727; filed November 26, 1934, for "Meansmethod described will become apparent from the ioliowingdetaileddescription of the structure and the operation thereof i Thism inventionresides substantially in eombination,- construction. arrangement,relative,"

Flame 5 h. a similar but l 'izure d is a top plan fin straightenerandsnide.

there is in my copending application mentioned aboveamachine torfilletins fish in a manner to efi'ect a hishreoovery oi fiesh irom thefish skeleton or iramework. By means of this machine a which hscbeenheaded is advoncedtail first and back down along adefined path ot travelalong which itis subjected to various, operations whereby a pair-orparallel incisions are first madein-theback oi the fish near oithe tailon opposite sides oi the-back spikes. 'ihese incisions are made uptothe: top side oi the backbone on oplmlte sides of the back andthroushout the length orthe fish from the tail end to the head.Guidemem- -t flt i tm m i n wi e fi by engagement .vlith its; backboneas it is pulled aloni in the direction of its lenltht and at the sametime these snide members out the back fiesh oi fish tor a distanceiromthe backboneoutviardiy. At thejtime the initial incisions are madeat the baseoi the-tail the dorsalfins are strallhtened and guidedbetween the cutting knives; The fish then moves into the mascot actionot a De of circular knives which slit it from the tail endtowardsthehead end on the belly :side andfonopposite sides oi the ventral fin.Thefish-is' then moved on into engagement with slicing knives 'whichslice theiilesh trom the not, alter which the fillets thusiormediaredetachedirom the skeleton. r

. Bythis method the recovery 0! fieshissome- Whit" by the tact thatthe'back slicing knivesrvhich tom the parallel incisions 'irom end toendmustbespaced apart a sufiicient distance to permit the knuckles atthe base of the back,

or dorssl nut. to pass therebetween Mthout binding. whenit the spacebetween these bookslicin: knives ilvfixedand that a ma-v chine ct beadapted varioussisesoifisnitwillbeapparent thata practical niacin: foraccount the varylns to be accommodated. The result is that in apractical machinc oi-this type a considerable amount oi fieshls lostoampresented by the fieshat theback in which the back spikes areembedded, as-a result oi this specinzoithebachslicinsknlveay I 'Ihebasic obiect oi this invention is to provide is machine and method do:first subjecting the fish totheaction of 'a pair! circularknives.

cross sectional view ofview of a portion of the preferably converging,which engage the fish along the back from the tail end, making a V-shaped incision along'the back, with the result that a narrow strip offlesh is cut and later stripped from the flsh, to which are attached thedorsal ilns and their associated knuckles. In the subsequent backslicing operation wherein, as iish issliced on oppositesides of the backsrakesfrom end-toend and up to the top of the backbone. it will beapparent that the knives which effect this slicingoperation may be brosht much closer-together. greatly increasing the recovery of flesh'.;The mechanism herein disclosed is therefore adapted for inclusion in themachineof my copendins application mentioned above at the end of themachine to which the mm are fed, and will form the initial part thereof.Y The right hand end or the iish entry end of the machine has been shownin the drawings. The sideframe members are illustrated at l-, assupported upon legs or standards]. At I is a shaft extendingtransversely ofthe bed or frame and journaied in suitable bearingsmounted on the side members butflnot shown; Mounted on the shaft are twopairs of sprockets I over which the endless chains 1 pass. beseenfromFigured. there are two pairs of these chains l which extendsubstsntiallyhorisontslly from the sprockets! to anotherset of sprocketstowards the left. but not in tbesefigures. The

. shaft I may be rotated from any suitable power sourcein anydesired-manner; However, for of illustration there has been indicated inMure l apulley Imounted'on the shaft and operated by means'd abeltt-{dflvenin any llounted on each of land transa pair offhlocksprcarriers I winch. in detailed construction ,aresomewhat As illlltrate'din-l'igure 2. these plates are.

"long'stripsorbars preferably oi metal oned'so that the blocks.orcarriers I may slide therealong' in traveling bothion' the upper andthe chains on the upper level. 'lhisencloasstheehainstructureandprotectsthe chains and associated structure from moisture and the like.

Each block or carrier I is provided with a channel therethroughextending transversly of the path of travel of the chains in which arereciprocally mounted the bars or, rods I! which terminate in enlargedplate-like ends I! which have a series ofsharp projections it on, theface thereof. Journaled' on the opposite encrof each plunger is a pairof rollers II and II. It will be noted that the rollers II are Journaledso as to be inlinewith the ends of the rods. As will be seen fromFigures 2 and 3, the forward edges of the plates Ildiverge in thedirection of travel on the upper level. The purpose of this constructionwill be described later. 4

As will be seen from Figures 1 and 2, there-is secured to the ends ofthe side members i, a pair of curved armsor brackets i! which extend upover the guide plates 9 and have formed on the outer edges, cammingsurfaces II. These camming surfaces II are so positione'das to beengaged by the rollers II as the blocks I swing along a curved pathfromthe lower level to the upper level in their path of travel. Supported onthe side members I, as will be seen in Figure 3, and extending alongside the path of travel of the blocks on the lower level are the cammingbars II which are so positioned as to engage the rollers II throughouttheir path of travel. along the lower level, Extending along the sidesof the machine and parallel to the upper level of travelof the blocksare the angle irons 22, the

inner faces of which act as camming surfaces for engagement with therollers It. At the initial ends of the angle bars 22 are the cam plates2! which have curved camming edges II which merge into the camming facesof the angle irons. The adjacent portions of the camming surfaces ll ofthe curved arms I l are similarly curved as shown at ll. It is to benoted, however that the camming surfaces II are on a lower level thanthe camming surfaces ll since they respectively engage the rollers IIand it. At It is the supply chute or guide upon which the fish areplaced for introduction into the machine. Pivotally mounted on the sidesof this chute are a pair of gates 24 which swing on vertical pivot pins25 supported from the sides of the curved arms ll.

As is clear in Figure 3, a pair of coiled springs "are provided andarranged so as to cause the gates II to converge in the direction ofmovement. of a fish as. it passes therebetween. It may be he're notedthat any suitable form of gate construction may be employed, asillustrated by the somewhat different construction disclosed in my abovementioned copending application.

At 21 are a pair of converging arms which are pivotally mounted at II onthe arms ll. At the apex of these arms is a v-shaped plate or pressureshoe 2! which presents downwardly and is positioned to bear down upon afish on the belly side as it moves thereunder.

Extending between the side frames is a brace II which is, positioned tosupport the forward from the figures, however, it 'issubstantially V-shaped, having an open bottom and provided with a series of pairs orspring fingers 38 of V formation. The lower side trough 33 is e ing toone side of the machine as shown inFigby means or the machine.

jprovided with an fa notchinthe a a p or the straightener provldedwith-ayoke 34. Extend ure 3 isa rotatable shaft is: on the outer enact whichis mounted a lever 36 which may be swung through a up and down anpositioned at the desired locawhich may tion. Q L Mounted on each sideframelfis astandard 40 a e M be vertically adjusted andthen locked inDd-Sition by meansoi the'machine screws 42. At 4|Tis an adjusting screwsame-ass oi each of which thevertical adjustment of the standards may beeffected.

These standards ure 3.are provided 7 low Sings 43 in which .40, as vwillappear F g with inwardly. extending tholare slldably mounted the tubularhousings 44 which have splined cone nectionwith the casings 43. By meansof this construction the housings may slide within the casings withoutturning housings are ffprovided withcollars 45 which is providedYwith apair havejinwardly extending armsfiifeach of which oi spaced rollers"T41. These rollers engage a cam 48 which is mounted upon a carrier",which carrier in turn is mounted on a pair of bars or rods 53. C Theserods 5 0 as will be seen in Figure in the standards 43.

1 are slidably supported These bars are longitudinally reciprocated inthe proper timed relation bymeans of a cam, not shown, which may bedriven from any suitably operated partof the machine. Atthe toplofcollar 45 is a lug 45 positioned-.toengage a pair of. adjustable locknuts Zlmountedon a pin 2|! secured in the fixture 20. By thisconstruction theinward movement of. housing 441s limited to the exactdis-. tance to position the slitting knives 6| and stopper blocks 62 tobe described later, to the proper relative operating. position. l c 1Journaled in thehousing 44 isa shaft 5| which terminates at its outer'end in a pulley 52 and connected by a belt 53 to a pulley. 54 which isse-.

. 44 and may cured to thesame shaft asfpulley 55. Pulley 55 is drivenfrom any suitable power source by means of the belt 56. The pulleys 54and 55 are mounted on a bracket 40*, see Figure 1,'on the side of eachstandard 40. e As will be noted from Figure 3, this mechanismfisduplicated. on each side ofthe machine. Shaft 5| is connected toshaft 53 by means of a universal coupling member 51,- H The shaft 53 1sjournaled in a ead which is angularly DQ1- sitlonable ongthetextendingend of the housing. be located at any desiredangle by meansot thelockscrews 60. The outer ends of the shafts 53 are provided withcircular knives GLeach. oiwhich knives has secured on its inher faceadjacentthe periphery, in equally spaced positions, a series of smoothor roughened gripper blocks 62. It is pointed outthat any suitablenumber of these blocksimay be employed,

. such as4, 6, 8, or the like. Bythis arrangement it will be seen'fromFigure 3 that the circular knives 8| are positioned so as to converge.at

their-upper edges andto project into the path otmovement of a fish as,itmoves along the trough33g {it the side of the knivesiii opposite to thatat which the trough 33 is positioned is The outer ends of the anothertrough I03, see'l' lgure 2, which simply a from the tail t6 the head 7described. ,With the power turned on shaft 3 1 will be revolving,causing the pairs of chains to travePto the left, Figure 1, on the upperlevel and to the right. onthe lowerlevel. At the same timethecircularkniv'es 6| are revolving at the proper speed. A headed fish,back down and tail first ismoved along the trough or chute 23 by hand..or. by meansot an automatic feeding device so that it will pass betweenthe gates 24.. These ,gatesserve; to vertically'positionthefish. The

fish is moved. until its tail projects beyond the V.

e wi t s and is in a position to be n aged by the Spiked gripper plates.15 as they swing up on to. the upper level a pair? of these plates swingupwardly. theyl are in spaced apart relation by reason of, theengagement of thBJI'OIlGIS with the .camming surfaces I3.

However, asfthese rollers move into the region of the: curved cammingsuri'acesll 'and ll the gripper plates beginto move towards each other.

This results from the fact that the rollers I3 engage the cammingsurface s21; causing; the bars I! to 'move towards eachtother.One-feature of this construction isiound in the factthat the rollers.which carry. the burden of forcing the gripper plates into firmengagement with the tail of. the fish are infalignment with the lineofforce. Thus it is the camming surfaces .Zlacting on the rollers l3 whichcauses thefg ripper plates to move towards eachotherland firmly engagethe tail of the fish. The camming surfaces l1? and the similarly shapedcamming surfaces 2|. of the plates 2| merely form a guide path throughwhich the rollers [4 move. These rollers, at this ,rstage oictheoperation, however, have no ",fu'nction. the operating and grippingforceswereapplied to the rollers l4 off the center of. the. bars i 2therewould be a "tendency for these bars to bindin theirseats in theblocks 8. As. the-rollers i3 reach the straight sides of the cam angleirons 22 the gripper plates have movedt to an adjacent position andtheir spikes ifi have firmly gripped the fish at'its tail.v Asthegripper plates continue to move to the left theydraw thefish from. thetrough 23 on to it the guide. and fin stralghtenlngtrough 33., Thedorsal fins of a fish naturally close down against the back oi'a fish ina dlrection towards the tail. In other words, the bonystructure of.thedorsal fins points rearwardoi' the fish. By reason of theconstruction and position of the spring fingers the dorsal fins areengagedand spread formly down on the. fish on its belly side, holdingshoe 29. by reason of the weight oiits structure bears uni- It will beapparent that if it firmly-in the guide 33. As the fish moves into therange oi action of the circular knives 6| their cutting edges at thevery top engage the fishat the baseot the tail at its back and begin 10towards each other. Thus they grip between thin stripof flesh S which isbeing cut back the fish and pull or strip it fish, breaking it loosealong the narrow attachment, as will be seen from a conn of Figure 5.The circular knives ll their out throughout the length of the th the rpping blocks 8! breaking the flesh B loose: so as the flsh moves ontrough II. and out of the range of the I a long narrow strip of flesh ofsubstanar cross section is cut from the o! the flsh'to which is attachedthe dorsal structure including the knuckles'at the base pines. Thus atthe end of this operalength of gags;

is formed throughout the along its back, a small triangularfrom whichthe can and attached continues to be pulled by the tail first; in thedirection of its 'n' pair of knives, which form "no of presentinvention, but which as reve. make a'pair of parallel incisions to theheadend oi the flsh up to and closely contiguous to'the back ouslydescribed, the dorsal fin ng been removed. these circular 'arrangcd'inparallel relation as close together as the back will t. thus reducingthe amount of remaining on the skeleton after it is comcircular knivesare mounted in the rehousings so that they are vertically byreciprocation oi the rods I to passage of the tail end of theflsh beves.after which they are moved at ii i ii i i 5 ii ieeg together, so that attheir topmost edges they andensmthe flsh at-the to make shallow parallelincisions in m end to end, closely adjacent to the dorsal an knuckles.

m the above description itwill be apparthat nus invention reddes incertain principla of construction and operation which are subject towide variations by those skilled in the art without departure from thetrue scope of the tion as involved in the novel combination a partsandthe novel method of'operation heredisclosed. 1 do notthereiore desireto be limited tothe disclosure as given for purpoaesof illustration, butrather tothe scope ol'tbeappendedclaims. I

t I seek to secure by United States letters l. A method of removing thedorsal finsv and knuckles of, the fish which comprises advancing thefish in the direction of its length, making a pair of incisions inrelation along the back of the fishon'opposite sides of the verticalcentral axis of the flsh, and stripping the band of flab thus formedfrom the body of the fish with the dorsal fins attached thereto.

2. A method 0! removing the dorsal fins and 1g knuckles from a fishwhich comprises advancing d knuckles have been removed;-

the fish in thedirection of its lmgth, making a pair ofnon-intersecting'incisions along the back of the flsh on opposite sidesof and closely contiguous to the dorsal fins, and tearing the band offlesh thus formed from the body of the 6 flsh.

3. A method of removing the dorsal fins and knuckles from a flsh whichcomprises advancing a flsh in the direction of its length, making a pairof converging incisions in the fish along 10 its back on opposite sidesof the dorsal fins, and closely contiguous thereto, and stripping theband of flesh formed by the incisions.

4. A method of removing the dorsal fins and knuckles from a flsh whichcomprises advancing the flsh in the direction of its length,straightening and guiding the dorsal fins in a common plane, making apair of shallow converging incisions along the flsh closely, contiguousto the dorsal flns, and stripping the band of flesh thus formed from thefish. V I

5. A method of treating a fish'which comprises advancing it back downand tail first in the diinto a plane, making a pair of incisions alongthe back of'the fish closely contiguous to its dorsal fin knuckles, andtearingthe band of flesh thus formed from the body of the fish.

6; In'an apparatus 0! the type described the combination comprising asupporting frame, a 80 carrier for advancing a fish in'the direction ofits length, along a defined path, and means for making a pair ofconverging incisions along the back of the flsh adjacent to its dorsalfins.

I. In an apparatus of the type described the as combination'comprising asupporting frame, a carrier for advancing a flsh in the direction of itslength along a defined path, means for making a pair of incisions alongthe back of the fish adjacent to its dorsal fins and converging 40toward its backbone, and means for guiding the dorsal fins in a planebetween the line of action of the meansfor making said incisions.

8. In a machine of the type described the combination comprising aconveyor for moving a fish 5 adjacent the conveyor for guiding thedorsal 55.

flns of a fish in a common plane, means acting on opposite sides of saidplane to make a pair of shallow incisions along the back of the fish.and means for stripping the band of flesh formed by said incisions fromthe body of the flsh. so

10. In a machine of the type described the combination comprising aconveyor for moving a fish in the direction of its length, meanssupported adjacent the conveyor for guiding the dorsal fins of a fish ina common plane, means as acting on opposite sides of said plane to makea pair of shallow incisions along the back of the flsh, means forstripping the band of fieshiormed by and between said incisions from thebody of the fish, said lncising and stripping means corn 7o prising apair of circular knives and a plurality of cooperating pairs of gripperblocks.

11. In a machine of the type described the combination comprisingasupporting frame, an endless conveyor mounted on said frame, fish 15.gripping means mounted on said conveyor," and means mountedadjacentlsaidconveyor formaking a pair of converging shallowincisionsalong the back ofuthe fish. I

12. Inna machine of-thetypedescribed the -combination comprising asupporting frame, an"

endless conveyor mounted on said frame, fish gripping means mountedonsaid conveyor, means i mounted adjacent said conveyor for making a.pair of shallow incisions along the back of the fish, and means for,gripping the band of flesh thus formed and stripping it from the body ofthe fish. i i

13. In a machine of thetype described the combination comprising asupporting frame, an end- [less conveyor mounted in said frame, meansmounted on said conveyorfor gripping a fish and advancing it in thedirection of its length, and a pair of converging circular knivespositioned to make shallow incisions along the back of the fish adjacentits dorsalfins as the conveyor advances advancing it in the directionofits length, a pair.

of converging circular knives positioned to make incisions along theback of the fish adjacent its dorsal fins as the conveyor advancesthefish in the direction of its length, and means in advance of thecircular knivesfor straightening the.fins

of the fish into a plane between the circular knives. t

15. In a machine of the type described the combination comprising asupporting frame, an endless conveyor mounted in said frame, meansmounted on said conveyor for grippinga fish and advancing it in thedirection of its length, a pair of circular knives positioned to makeincisions along the back of the fish adjacent its dorsal fins as theconveyor advances the fish in the direction of its length, means inadvance of the circular knives for straightening thefins of the fishinto a plane between the circular knives, and means for tearing the bandof flesh thus formed from the body of the fish.

16. In a fish treatingmachine of the type described, the combinationcomprising a framework, an endless conveyor supported on said framework,gripping means mounted on said conveyor, means for operating thegripping means, a conveyor, cir-v cular knives rotatably supported onsaid framework adjacent said conveyor, and means for angularlypositioning the circular knives with respect to each other. i

17. In a fish treating machine of the type described, the combinationcomprising a framework, an endless conveyor supported on said framework,gripping means mounted on said conveyor, means for operating thegripping means, a conveyor, circular knives rotatably supported on saidframework adjacent said conveyor, means for angularly positioning thecircular knives with respect to each other, and fin straightening meansin advance of the circular knives for straightening and guiding the finsof a fish between said knives.

18. In a fish treating machine of the type described, the combination',.comprising a framework, an endless conveyor supported on saidframework, gripping means mounted on said conveyor, means for operatingthe gripping means, a conveyor, circular knives rotatably supported onsaid framework adjacent said conveyor, means for angularly positioningthe circular knives with respect to each other, fin straightening meansadvance of the circular knives for straightening and guiding :the finsof a fish between said knives, and stripping means for removing the bandof fiesh formed by the circular knives from the body of a fish.

. 19.'In a fish treating machine the combination comprising a supportingframe, conveyor means l for advancing aflshin the direction of itslength, apair of rotatablysupported circular knives for making shallowincisions along the back of a fish, and means for causing the knives tomove towards and away from each other.

20. In a fish treating machine the combination comprising a supportingframe, conveyor means for advancing a fish in the direction of itslength,

a pair of rotatably supported circular knives for making shallowincisions along the back of a fish, means for causing the knives to movetowards and away from each other, andmeans for guiding the dorsal finsof a fish in a plane between said knives.

21. In a machine for treating fish the combination comprising a conveyorfor moving a fish in 1 the direction of its length, a pair of rotatablecircular knives positioned to engage a fish as it is moved by theconveyor, and means for causing,

the knives to reciprocate towards and away from each other to cause themto engage the fish at the I back andmake a pair of parallelyincisionsadjacent the dorsal fins on opposite sides from one end of the fish tothe other.

22. In a machine for treating fish the combination comprising a conveyorfor moving a fish in the direction of its length, a pair of rotatablecircular knives positioned to engage a fish as it is moved by theconveyor, means for causing the knives to reciprocate towards and awayfrom each other to cause them to engage the fish at the back and make apairof parallel incisions adjacent the dorsal fins on opposite sidesfrom one end of the fish to the other, and means for guiding thedorsalfins in a plane between said knives.

23. A method of treating fish which comprises advancing a fish along adefined path of travel, making a pair of incisions along the back of thefish so that the planes of the incisions converge, and removing thestrip of flesh defined by the incisions with the dorsal fins andknuckles at-, tached.

24. A method of treating a fish which comprises advancing the fish alonga defined path of travel, making a pair of non-intersecting incisionsalong the back of the fish, and removing the strip of flesh thus.formedwith the dorsal fins. andknuckles attached.

.25. A method of treating a fish which comprises advancing the fishalong a defined path of travel, cutting the fish along its back onopposite sides of the dorsal fins, and tearing the band of flesh thusformed from the back of the fish with the dorsal fins and knucklesattached.

26. A 'method of treating a'flsh which comprises advancing the fishalong adeflned path of travel, cutting the fish along its back in planesextending towards the backbone of the fish, and removing the band offlesh thus formed with the dorsal fins andknuckles attached.

incisions converging towards the backbone o! the flab. g

. 28. In a machine for treating fish the com- 7 bination comprising aconveyor for advancing a ilsh in the direction of its length, a pair 0!rotatablv supported knives mounted adjacent the conveyor, means forpositioning said knives so that the planes thereof converge and make in-V cisionsalong theback oi' a ilsb at oppositeaides of the dorsal tin,and means mounted on said knives for stripping the band of flesh betweenammo:

